Judge will not block Tennessee health law rules

State's guidelines for counselors are questioned

Oct. 1, 2013

Saul Solomon, director of law for Metro

Written by

The Tennessean

A Davidson County judge won’t stop Tennessee’s emergency rules covering workers and volunteers who want to help people sign up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Chancellor Russell T. Perkins ruled Monday night that the state’s rules would not immediately do irreparable harm. He scheduled the next hearing on the lawsuit filed by the Tennessee Justice Center for Oct. 9.

But Perkins did say that he was concerned certain language in the rules might cause “unintended consequences” and directed the defendants to “interpret these rules as strictly consistent with the federal rules ... while we get this sorted out.”

The Tennessee Justice Center filed the lawsuit Friday on behalf of several plaintiffs that included church pastors, the mother of a disabled adult child and a doctor.

The suit contends that the rules violated the First Amendment, conflicted with the federal health law and breached state laws. The rules state counselors and navigators may not “discuss the benefits, terms and features of a particular plan over any other health plans and offer advice about which health plan is better or worse or suitable for a particular individual or employer.”

Monday, Nashville joined the effort challenging the rules. The Metro government filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit.

Saul Solomon, director of law for Metro, said that rules issued by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance inhibit librarians and health officials from serving the public, writing that “the State’s emergency regulations are so over-broad and vague that they affect the ability of the Metropolitan Government to fulfill its government functions and provide information to its citizens.”

The rules also require navigators and counselors to be fingerprinted and undergo background checks. Penalties of up to $1,000 for each violation were set in the rules.

Volunteer counselors were included in those rules, spurring objections from religious and social service organizations.

Gov. Bill Haslam defended the emergency rules Monday when questioned by a group of reporters. He said the rules were authorized by legislation passed with wide bipartisan support earlier this year, and were enacted at the last minute because of a delay of federal guidelines.

“It’s certainly not intended to be a stumbling block,” Haslam said.

In the brief filed Monday, Solomon asserts that the rules interfere with the work of numerous employees besides librarians and health department workers. Employees of the Metro Action Commission, the Social Services Commission, Juvenile Court, the Hospital Authority and the Board of Education may be asked questions from the public about signing up for health coverage on the federally run insurance exchange, he noted.

Solomon pointed out that only 20 percent of the tens of thousands of people served by the Metro Public Health Department have health insurance. He said it is not feasible for all the health department’s employees to be registered with the state, nor for all the people who work at Metro’s 20 libraries.

“The Metropolitan Government has a strong interest in its citizens having access to health care and has been put in a difficult situation where its employees are unnecessarily limited in assisting citizens who wish to obtain health care,” Solomon concluded in the brief.